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- The plot was total nonsense and incredibly weak. So... they're just chasing down a ship for the entire movie? I'm glad Hux decides to keep ineffectually firing on their shields to "let them know we're still here" or these scenes would have been even more obviously lazy and boring. The bad thing about stuff like this is that your mind immediately begins to think "can't they do something else?". It's just not believable that the First Order doesn't have a way to deal with the rebel cruiser other than follow them. The command to pull back the fighters because "we can't cover you" is very obviously done simply for the plot. Can't they call in reinforcements? Were we literally seeing the entirety of the First Order chasing down the entirety of the Rebels?
Further, later on it's absolutely laughable that the thief has to suggest to the First Order to scan for cloaked transporters. Either cloaking technology isn't ubiquitous enough for the First Order to consider it (we know this isn't the case lol) or they should have been scanning for it. And if the latter is the case, I'm not sure why Leia assures Poe that the First Order has no way of detecting the transporters, unless the First Order are the first ones to develop cloak-spotting technology, right alongside light=speed tracking technology.
- Poe was pretty popular in The Force Awakens, and a hero in the events of that movie. This movie almost seems like the movie creators felt the need to tear him down a bit. When the movie starts, he leads the attack that destroys the Dreadnought, but the audience is made to believe that this was not a good thing because too many people died (partly because of a ridiculous chain reaction when one of the bombers explodes and takes down like three other bombers with it). So this begins Poe's arc in this movie, which is that his heroics are not always the right move. Thing is... it seemed that Leia changed the orders at the last second. It didn't seem that Poe was being needlessly heroic so much as he was enacting the plan they already agreed upon, and still enacted it after it was determined unnecessary (because everyone was already evacuated). The rest of the movie though, he's just portrayed as wrong. Sort of. It's an obvious thing that the vice admiral should have filled him in, so instead they gave her a chip on her shoulder so that she keeps Poe in the dark. So Poe of course thinks the rebels are doomed to die, and he takes actions to save them. And his actions lead to many of their deaths. But... what was he supposed to do here? Still, it's considered a teachable moment for him. Then on the snow planetoid, he leads a failed attack against the battering ram. I don't know. I don't think I like this. He went from hotshot starfighter rebel hero to... someone that accomplished very little in this movie and now has to question his choices. I guess the arc is at the end when he holds Finn back and realizes that Luke is there to buy the time. But it begs the question why Luke didn't tell them that in the first place and instead left them to figure it out on their own (not to mention why the base doesn't have a second egress). It seems manufactured for the benefit of Poe's arc, which in turn was not very compelling or satisfying.
- Luke. Holy ****ing ****. So much for me to hate here. The problem with **** like this is that they don't give us Luke. They abandon the character and simply use the name for the sake of plot. So Vader, who killed children, who betrayed his brothers and sisters and hunted them down across the galaxy, who was the attack dog and enforcer of the Empire for decades, Vader is still redeemable in the eyes of Luke Skywalker. But a ten year old boy that, so far as we know, hasn't done anything yet, he needs to be put down?
So Luke, who threw his lightsaber to the ground before Vader and Sidious, in an attempt to save his father's soul, this same Luke ignited his lightsaber with the intent to kill a sleeping child? How? How did this happen? What in the **** happened to bring us here? I mean... this is a serious departure. Did Snoke have mental communication with Ben? Were these forced mental intrusions? Could he control the boy? Was Ben being driven mad? What happened that made LUKE SKYWALKER consider, even if for a moment, that he had to murder a sleeping boy?
Then we go the route of Ben Kenobi and Yoda. You failed at one thing, so you just hide away on a planet and do nothing for the rest of your years. Heroes abdicating their responsibilities is one of my biggest pet peeves.
I obviously didn't like any of this, but I'm wondering if the people excited to see Luke actually enjoyed all the scenes we got. I mean... it was just him walking around the island telling Rey "no". Similar to JL, we're being told that the resistance *needs* Luke. But what he did at the end was buy them some time. But I'm not so sure he was necessary for that given that Rey and Chewie fit everyone on the Falcon with no problems. So they masterminded a base with no other exit except for this hidden one. We just need time to find it. Enter Luke ex machina. He didn't even teach Rey anything. I don't know. I mean, what the **** was the point?? I guess the Force doesn't want Yoda to train Rey either? (Does she need it?)
- Kylo Ren. I really want to like Kylo, because I think he had a good first impression in The Force Awakens. He is stronger than almost every other force user we've seen so far. But his character goes down hill from there. This movie has him basically tread water. So... Kylo is conflicted. To get over this, he kills his father. But we see that he is still conflicted. And he ends up not being able to actually kill his mother. Rey believes he can be turned. Luke doesn't. From a meta perspective, it doesn't seem he can be turned because who then would be the villain? Unless they power up Hux in some fashion, Kylo is the villain. The problem is I don't really know why he's doing what he's doing. Snoke seduced him, but Snoke is dead now (telegraphed pretty obviously after Rey said "you don't kneel before Snoke"). Kylo wants to rule, but why? To what end? What is he looking for? If the past makes you weak, why can't you be weak? What do you need to be strong for? You killed Snoke, so now you control the First Order. For what ends? Don't know. Not sure Kylo knows, but he is a less compelling villain for it. At some point his inner turmoil has to coalesce into something focused and solid, otherwise we just won't care. At this point, the good guys have won twice. There is only one movie left. Presumably they win again. So why do we care?
- There's a slew of other things that I didn't like or thought were weird:
-- Leia's fakeout "death" and weird glowy return to the ship. I thought it was her spirit, but it turns out it was actually her. Pointless and strange.
-- The whole casino planet part just seemed like filler. And the commentary on war profiteers seemed out of place and needless as well.
-- Phasma, not again lol. Everyone dying except Phasma, Finn, and Rose was obvious and silly. Show us other injured survivors or crew members mitigating damage, etc.
-- Why did Rose object to Finn sacrificing himself if she intended to sacrifice herself as well? She said "we win not by fighting what we hate, but by saving what we love" (I don't quite recall if she said love, so maybe that's the answer). But this line is punctuated by the battering ram punching through the doors. Finn was literally trying to save the rebels. His actions are in line with her thinking, and her actions are also in line with his actions (in principle). Seemed inconsistent.
-- Hux. This guy is cartoonish. Kylo is already struggling to be a compelling villain, and Hux doesn't really offer much himself.
-- Rey lies to Luke about her communication with Kylo. This is annoying because it is simply done for the plot. Like the admiral blowing Poe off and not sharing her plans with him. And Luke obsessing over his failure and giving up completely. The story exists because no one acts like an adult.
Anyways, this movie was bad. I didn't feel anything really after it was over. There isn't even a cliffhanger or anything. I guess the First Order is conquering still. So even though the good guys won, we'll get the opening scroll in the next film telling us how the First Order has the entire galaxy under its iron fist and the rebels are working one some secret plan to blah blah blah. I don't know, whatever.